Other
by Sakura Hyuga
Summary: After a mission gone horribly wrong, Allen wakes up in an alternate universe where the Exorcists and the Noahs are close allies. However, instead of his 16-year old self, he's now...a 12-year old child whose adoptive father is Marian Cross? And wait...What's this about Kanda being his grouchy, overprotective older brother? Hold on a second, what? !
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there, fans of D. Gray-Man! First off, surprise, I'm not dead! Ha ha ha…Actually, this was a chapter I wrote in July. I'm sorry, school is literally slaughtering me.**

**Anyhow, this is Sakura-Hyuga here, a fan of this amazing series.**

**Well, usually, I don't go writing for a fandom that has what, 18+k fanfics? But nonetheless, inspiration hit me straight in the heart! So, I've added this story to my list of back-burners…and there you have it.**

**Anyways, unfortunately, this will **_**not**_** be continued if I don't get enough response, simply because I have a fifteen or so other stories **_**with**_** response that I need to tend to. So yeah, if you want to read the next chapter, review and stuffs. My stories get updated in the order of most reviews per chapter to the least.**

**Anyways, thanks for listening to the ramble of this author!**

**Disclaimer: Uh, no, I don't own the awesomeness that is D. Gray-Man. Nope, I wouldn't even in my dreams. So yeah. All I own is the plot…and I don't even know if someone did something like this before, so. XD **

**PLEASE ENJOY, GUYS!~**

**-(*+*)-**

_He was panting._

_His feet slapped into the floor as they ran down the long hall; him leading the way. Sweat-drenched silver hair fell limply against his eyes– one normal and one cursed –as he willed his legs to go faster. The air was stifling with the smell of decaying flesh and the dull pain of his wounds pounded throughout his body._

…_But they had to keep going. They needed to go, they needed to-_

_A loud thump echoed into the air and Allen could vaguely make out some pained groans from his red-haired friend. He immediately slowed to a stop and whipped around, his heart thundering in his chest. This was no place to stop._

"_Lavi! Get up, we need to keep moving-"_

_A strong arm– injured though, Allen noted –reached down to lift his fallen comrade. The teen's long hair was out of its usual ponytail, and was instead messily strewn down his shoulders. And although he looked relatively composed, Allen could still see the slight clench in his team-mate's jaw._

_Even Kanda was tired._

_Their final comrade slowed to a stop beside the samurai as she took the chance to regain some of her strength. Her legs were bleeding profusely, completely handicapping her Innocence's full potential. _

_Lenalee dropped to her feet as a puddle of blood began gathering from her wounds on her legs. Kanda immediately cursed as he knelt beside her, already looking strained from the unconscious Lavi on his back._

_Allen gritted his teeth and hurried over to his comrades. His vision wavered slightly and he immediately shook his head, clearing it. No, he couldn't fall unconscious now. He couldn't leave Kanda by himself. _

_Although it would for sure come back to bite him in the butt later– if there is a later, that is –Allen activated Crowned Clown, his Innocence's cowl immediately supporting him as he felt some of his pain fade away. He picked Lenalee up, bridal style, and nodded at Kanda. _

_Kanda scowled, readjusting his grip on Lavi as he started to run. Allen followed suit, quickly pulling ahead. After all, he was the one with the activated Innocence._

_They were all breathing heavily. Both Lenalee and Lavi were unconscious now, their wounds becoming too much for them to bear. Kanda's breathing was labored, and Allen was pretty sure that the added toll of Lavi was too much for him. He wouldn't be able to last long._

_It was all useless._

_Sure enough, a measly ten minutes later and Allen stopped hearing the extra pair of feet hitting the ground. He took a deep breath before he turned around._

_Kanda was on his knees, his face ashen grey. Blood pooled around him, and Allen couldn't tell if it was all his or if Lavi's was also mixed in there. But one thing was for sure, Kanda couldn't go on any further._

_Allen couldn't hold it against him, though. After all, out of the four of them, Kanda had been injured the worst. He quickly hurried over to the samurai. It was all over. Even if Allen could carry all 3 of them, he wouldn't be able to last long either. _

_Allen knelt beside Kanda, his eyes straying to his pale face. Kanda stared back, his mouth in a tight grimace and his eyes dark and unreadable._

_And then Allen's cursed eye activated._

_The akuma appeared immediately, laughing as it flew at the battered Exorcists. Allen, to his credit, reacted pretty well in his completely exhausted state. His sword swiped at the akuma, cutting it in half._

_And then it exploded. In _white.

_It was absolutely blinding. Allen could hear Kanda yelling his name, yelling, yelling, yelling…_

_And then the white disappeared._

_And so did Lenalee._

_Allen could feel his mouth dropping, his mind suddenly numb from the shock. Lenalee's battered body had turned faint, and then, it completely disappeared._

_Allen was left grabbing the air._

_His head whipped around to Kanda, who watched in silent horror as Lavi slowly faded away as well._

_As if he had never been there in the first case._

_A sob made its way up to Allen's throat as he fell to his knees and crawled to the only comrade he had left. In the end, Allen was only that. A young 16 year old child. He grabbed Kanda's hand and squeezed it tightly, as if praying to whatever deity that if he held on hard enough he wouldn't disappear as well._

_For once, Kanda didn't pull away or yell at him. He let the younger boy slump against him, the cowl of his Innocence enveloping both in a warming atmosphere._

_Tears made their way down the younger boy's face. He knew he wouldn't be the one who went first. And he was right._

_Not even five minutes later, the battered samurai started fading as well. He lifted his other hand, staring at his rapidly fading fingers as he turned to the last member of his team. The boy was almost hiccupping, choking over his sobs as he stared at his fading comrade in pure fear._

_Kanda almost felt as though if Allen himself was disappearing, with the way he was acting. In a final act of gentleness, he lifted his rapidly fading hand to Allen's face as he wiped away some of his tears._

"_Oi, Bean Sprout, it's too childish to cry, you know? In the end, you really are nothing but a bean sprout."_

_And then Kanda blinked out of existence as well._

_Allen cried out as he curled up into a ball, screaming for his lost friends. Screaming desperately. It wasn't fair that he had to be the last one standing. Why did they have to disappear? They wouldn't leave Allen alone, would they?_

_But of course, nobody came. To pull him out of his misery. Nobody at all. _

_Allen was almost glad when the darkness came to swallow him up._

**-(*+*)-**

His eyelids were heavy and his body felt as though it had weighed tonnes. Yet he was completely comfortable and at ease. His body was enveloped in soft warmth and for once, nothing hurt.

_That_ was always a good sign.

Allen slumped back into the welcoming darkness, time seemly unmoving. It was almost relaxing, and for once Allen couldn't think of anything that was wrong. For once, everything was at peace. He drifted in and out of consciousness, his troubled mind finally at rest.

And then a loud creak echoed into the room. A door– _his door, perhaps? _–was opened and sounds of soft padding footsteps quickly filled Allen's ears.

A female voice, startling _familiar_, began to gently speak.

"Allen, it's Saturday again. We had a very amusing week-"

Another voice; childish, happy, and distinctively male, butted in. "Yup! Today I managed to play a prank on Komui and it was HILARIOUS. Oh, and on Monday I also managed to dye the ends of Yuu-chan's hair pink!"

A loud crash. Colourful swearing from another boy– _teen_? –and a quick, hasty shush from the first voice. She immediately reprimanded them.

"Kanda, we're talking to Allen right now! Go kill Lavi later!"

The childish voice started to whine dramatically. "Aww, Lenalee, you don't mean that!"

The swearing voice from earlier only 'hmped' as he growled slightly. "…Che."

These voices were all so familiar to Allen; his mind was almost throbbing with pain as he tried to figure out who they were. Who they were to him. Even the hilarious bickering they were doing at the moment sounded nostalgic, familiar, and completely _right_.

Wait a minute…wasn't their names mentioned?

If Allen was right, then the three intruders to his peaceful state were…Lenalee, Lavi, and Kanda, right?

Lenalee…Lavi…Kanda…

Lenalee…Lavi…Kanda…

…_Lenalee…Lavi…Kanda…_

_He was left grabbing air as Lenalee's body completely disappeared._

_Lavi also faded away, as if he had never been there in the first place._

_Kanda's fading hand on his cheek, wiping away some tears as he told him in his own way to stop crying._

Painful memories erupted suddenly in his mind and Allen finally found the will to move his body again. He jerked up, eyes snapping open as he remembered all his friends' demises.

They were gone. Gone, gone, gone, gone, _gone_–

His face slackened at the three people who were in front of his bedside. In return, they all jumped and stared at him, shock evident in all of their faces.

Lenalee had longer hair than what Allen had remembered. It was put in her usual pig-tails, and she was wearing what looked like a comfortable t-shirt and a skirt. _No uniform…_

Lavi looked the same as well, red hair tied back with a bandana and a black eye patch over his left eye. He wore a white shirt with some denim jeans. His face looked rather comical as well, mouth hanging open as he stared at Allen with pure shock.

And finally, Kanda. His long hair was put in a nice pony-tail, not like how it had been before. Like the others, he sported the casual clothes, and not his uniform. He had frozen as well, halfway through a curse as he stared at Allen.

Immediately, the freezing spell was broken as Lenalee sniffed. She could feel tears of happiness gathering in her eyes as she stared at the child in front of her, the child that was staring at her, the child that was _awake_-

And then she realized that said child looked completely scared to death.

Allen looked around rapidly, his eyes betraying the distress he had as he took in the details of the room. His complete confusion was almost tangible in the air. If anything, the room he was currently occupying looked like a regular hospital room in the Order.

But for some reason…it looked completely _wrong_. It felt wrong too. It was all wrong, all weird.

And then Kanda whipped out his golem, immediately muttering some words to it before watching it fly off.

So. Allen was more than a little confused as he watched his friends. But that was it. They didn't _feel _like his friends. They felt...it felt…as though they knew Allen very well, judging by the looks on their faces.

…But…

…It felt as though Allen didn't know them at all.

So despite himself, he pressed himself as far away as he could from them as possible, completely flattening himself against the wall. It wasn't right. Who were they? Why did they look like his friends? Where were all his friends? Were they really _gone_?

Allen flinched just from the thought.

But…But Allen was alive, wasn't he? So…so they should be okay too…

Tears of pure stress made their way down his cheeks as he stared at the three people before him; the people who were his friends yet not his friends. To his surprise, all three looked extremely concerned; even the emotionless Kanda. Lenalee edged forward slowly, murmuring soothing words to the younger child as he whimpered pitifully.

"It's okay, shh, we won't hurt you."

It seemed to do the trick. Lenalee managed to get close enough to wrap her arms around the trembling form of her friend as she sent a pointed look to the other occupants in the room. For his part, Allen buried his wet face into the older girl's shoulder, finally breaking down in tears.

Lavi seemed to get the hint as he sat beside the girl. He started to rub the frightened boy's back in slow, soothing circles. Kanda stood rigidly, glaring at them.

For a moment, everything felt normal. Kanda was glaring at him, Lavi and Lenalee was hugging him. Against his wishes, Allen slowly felt himself relax, the tension and hazy dark thoughts slowly dissipating.

And then the door flew open, showing the face of a man Allen never though he'll see again.

All hell broke loose as Cross Marian flew into the room. Allen immediately stiffened again, his eyes widening to the size of saucers as he stared at his ex-master who was suppose to be dead.

Yup, he had a feeling now that he wasn't in his own world. Maybe the Ark had sensed his distress and sent him to another dimension or something? As crazy as it sounded, it seemed to be the most probable thing at the time. Allen thought hard as he tried to remember if he had heard the musical notes of the Ark before he had lost himself to the darkness.

However, all thoughts literally went out the window as his Master pushed both Lenalee and Lavi to the side and...

Hugged him.

Oh. Master– _Cross Marian_ –was actually hugging him.

Allen almost fainted again from the shock alone.

The man looked exactly how he had remembered him, dazzling red hair, white mask, everything. But for some reason, he looked utterly relieved. It almost made Allen believe that his Master had actually been worried about him.

Pftt. That was impossible. But…

Lenalee finally started crying as she started to rub her eyes furiously. Even Lavi's one eye looked a bit too bright and shiny. Kanda looked away, his long hair hiding his face.

And then his Master started to talk, his voice slightly hoarse but still strong. It was almost nostalgic to listen to him, Allen thought. His devil of a Master really left an impact on him…

And then he froze when he finally processed the words his Master had said.

"You're awake. Allen, you're awake…you were in a coma for an entire year. We thought you'll never wake up again…"

An entire year. That was how long he had spent at the Order. A year.

"These…idiot friends…of yours came to talk to you every week to try and wake you up, you know? Even when they had missions, one of them would make it back before the week was up just to talk with you."

A year. He had been asleep for a year. A year.

"You've just woken up, so I can see that you're confused, and it'll take time getting used to everything–"

The door flew open again, this time with a gasping Komui. His face completely lit up at the sight of the boy on the bed, and he broke out into a grin.

Komui. Lenalee. Lavi. Master.

They were all the same.

But…Allen had been asleep for an entire year.

A year.

A _year_.

A whole, complete, _year._

…Did that mean…that all his memories of the Order, and everything that happened in his life so far…

…Were fake?

**-(*+*)-**

**And that is the first chapter of this story! Special thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this. And remember, if you want to see the next chapter, please review!~**

**See ya later, alligators!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi everyone, I'm back! I'm actually surprised that my story got any response at all, with the DGM fandom at 18+k. However, thank you very much! It is to you reviewers, followers, and favouriters that I found it in me to continue!**

**I replied all the reviews, and I will reply Guest reviews here in the chapter itself.**

**Guest: Thank you very much! Here is your new chapter, I'm glad you like my story.**

**FK: Thank you! But, oh wait, Allen was crying on Lenalee's shoulder, not Kanda's! Haha, big brother Kanda-ness will come in a few chapters.**

**R. A. R. B.: Thank you very much! Here is you new chapter!~**

**Please go to the bottom for the continuation of my Author Note! I'm sure you're just itching to read my story at the moment, ha ha.**

**Disclaimer: Saku-chan does not own any DGM things. Nope. Nil. The only thing she owns is the plot of the story, and well, with 18.4k stories, she's not even sure if she **_**does **_**own it, harrharr. **

**Please enjoy!**

**-(*+*)-**

Allen stared.

And blinked.

Before he _staaaaaared _some more.

"…Um…Beansprout?"

Lavi laughed almost nervously as he watched the younger boy blink blankly at his own reflection. "Are you…okay?"

On the other hand, Allen did not even deign a reply to the older boy, because he was _not_ okay_. _No, he was _completely_ not okay (that should have been obvious from the way he didn't bother to make a comment about his dreaded nickname).

Why, do you ask?

Well, for one, Allen looked twelve.

_Twelve._

…Or maybe even _eleven_. God knows how Allen missed hitting puberty. It seemed that it would always come back to bite him in the butt.

But on the other hand, why the _heck _was Allen so much…younger? For one, Allen was sure that Miranda didn't accidentally used her Innocence on him or something; in fact, Allen wasn't even sure if this was in her Innocence's capabilities! His own Innocence, Crown Clown, didn't have this ability either, as far as Allen was concerned.

And the Ark wasn't even in for consideration, even if it could have taken Allen to wherever he was in the first place; it was basically a giant transporting device! Allen was pretty sure that his beautiful white city didn't have the capability to turn him into a freaking child.

With his eyes never leaving the mirror, Allen lifted his right hand to his face. His reflection copied the movement as Allen dutifully recorded the image of his current self. Soft, almost unhealthily pale skin was the first thing that caught his eye, combined with his small, almost trembling skinny frame. Allen looked slightly malnourished and it seemed as if he hadn't seen daylight for months.

…Although, with what the others had told him concerning his state for the past year, that had probably been true.

Fluffy, silver-ish white hair puffed around his head in a soft halo. Allen tilted his head, watching his bangs flop to one side. His blood red scar was still on his face, a mess of raw _red_ that made his otherwise ghostly pale figure look alive. It was as if his curse was the only anchor holding him to the physical world. And although Allen held no lost love for his cursed eye, he was somewhat relieved to see something that didn't change.

And of course, last but not least…his gray-blue eyes.

…Allen inwardly scowled.

His...His eyes were huge and-and…cute! It looked as if he was a freaking doll! Or-Or even a little girl! Large pools of mercury stared back at him, long lashes fluttering slightly as Allen studied himself. In all seriousness, he looked like one of those fragile porcelain dolls that used to peek at him from the tall shelves in those toy stores. No wonder everyone was treating him so gently. It looked as if he would crack at any given moment.

… … …

… …

…

With an inward sigh, Allen consoled himself by saying how he could rant about his current appearance after he got some answers._ Now, back to the main problem._

"Everybody…"

His voice sounded weak and Allen slightly frowned. He could even see some of the room's occupants leaning closer in an attempt to hear him better. _That _didn't usually happen. Although Allen was super polite, he was _not_ shy around anyone; women, superiors, hot guys…After being Cross' apprentice for so many years, things like shyness kind of died.

It wasn't too unexplanatory though; it was his first time speaking after waking up in this new world a day ago. Perhaps it was his clearly delicate health, or maybe it had been the drugs that were still pumped into him, but Allen had fallen asleep almost immediately after Komui had arrived.

"How…how old am I?" He injected some force into his voice and was pleased to hear a slightly stronger tone. Quickly, his eyes flickered to the occupants of the room as his question left his lips.

Silence…and then–

"Twelve."

…_Ha, at least I'm not eleven..._

Komui was the one who had spoken up, eyes never leaving Allen's trembling form. He seemed honestly worried about the pale-haired boy (Allen felt a small stab of guilt), but Allen had brushed off any attempts made to stop him and had literally jumped out of the bed to look for a mirror.

Lavi nodded immediately when he realized that Komui did not plan to elaborate. "Yup, Beansprout! You're twelve now, almost thirteen, actually! Lenalady's currently 15, and Yuu and Yours Truly are both 16."

A pause…and then a low growl, the _shishing _sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath, and then–

A quick glare from a nurse stopped all attempts of the assassination of a red rabbit from a certain Japanese samurai. As of now, Kanda only blatantly glared at the red-head with as much hate as he could muster for saying his dreaded first name. Lavi just continued to grin in an oblivious manner.

Ignoring what seemed like a common occurrence in this world and his own (another thing that didn't change, thank goodness!), Allen scrunched his face up. All their ages were wrong! No wonder every one of them had looked slightly off, slightly _younger _than what Allen had originally remembered. Back then, Lenalee had been only a year older than him, while both Lavi and Kanda had been 3 years older than him. Now…it seemed as though Lenalee was 2 years older than him, and Kanda and Lavi around 3?

Allen inwardly groaned. It seemed as though even more comments about his age would be made, considering his occupation of an exorcist. He could still remember the whispers that were made when he was admitted into the Black Order in his world, and back then he was 15! Allen disliked all those comments and those quiet pitying whispers, because being able to wear the silver cross on his coat was neither a burden nor a misfortune. It was an honor…an honor Allen held.

_Or at least, an honor Allen used to hold._

A gentle hand suddenly ruffled his hair and Allen blinked, snapping out of his daze as he looked up. Komui smiled at him sheepishly, before parroting what Master had told him only the day before.

"Don't think about it so much, Allen. You just woke up; of course you would be confused."

Allen paused, before he gave into the temptation and looked up, secretly studying everyone in the room. His heart was still pounding from what had happened–

–_they left him alone, he was the only one left, why why why whywhywhy_–

–but in all seriousness, he had felt much more in control than the first time he woke up. Some distraction would do him no harm though, and it would be good to try and figure out what the heck was happening.

Komui smiled at him –_so kindly and gently, almost as if he was Lenalee_– and tilted his head. Allen smiled back himself, tentatively at the male he had once known so well.

–_he's a stranger now, unfamiliar_–

Allen's gaze travelled to his Master. The red-haired man was conversing with the nurse in low tones. He looked like the man Allen had remembered; all straightforward and harsh, and Allen suspected that the day before had been a fluke. Master could have _not _been worried about him. It was a preposterous idea.

–_the walls was stained with blood, as red as the hair the man had himself_–

Letting his eyes travel again, Allen locked onto Lenalee's form. She was watching him as well, and she gave him a small and shy smile as she appeared to drink his image in. It was no wonder though; it seemed as though this Lenalee was the same as _his_ Lenalee in personality. Always so kind and gentle…she was the dotting older sister Allen never managed to have.

–_her body becoming lighter, completely disappearing from view_–

Lavi, on the other hand, immediately offered a large smile to the boy when his eyes locked onto his. Lavi looked almost no different from Allen's memories, albeit a bit younger, his red hair still flaming and messy while his lone emerald eye shined in barely concealed relief.

–_Lavi disappeared as well, disappeared gone, left him alone_–

Last but not least, Kanda. The samurai, like Lavi, did not look much physically different than the one Allen had known. Realizing the pair of eyes on him, Kanda raised his head and shot Allen a glare before turning away. Allen inwardly laughed; it was nice to see that nothing changed.

–_Never mind that weird glint in the older teen's eyes, the way he almost seemed gentle–_

Another warm hand made its appearance on Allen's body; this time clamped to his shoulder as it pushed him towards the direction of his bed. Allen blinked out of his daze and looked up to see the nurse, who had a nice but firm smile on her face.

"You should get some sleep, I'm sure you must be very tired by now."

As much as Allen wanted to argue, (because the weirdness of the situation wasn't going to become clear by itself, and he was sure he wouldn't fall asleep with something like that hanging over him), he did feel the building drowsiness that was threatening to overtake him.

…That, and the nurse's expression looked scary.

Allen inwardly sighed. _Best not to risk it. _He offered a small pout as he climbed into his bed and smiled tentatively to everyone. All of his smiles were returned; some people even ruffled his hair before walking out of the room.

And contrary to what Allen had been thinking, he was sound asleep in less than ten minutes.

-(*+*)-

Allen discreetly wiped his sweaty palms onto his nightgown as he shifted his weight from one leg to the other. He fidgeted as conspicuously as possible, but he knew for a fact that blood was pounding in his head and colouring his cheeks a stained red as he nervously licked his lips. Feeling that familiar trickle of anxiety again, Allen scrunched up his hands in his gown as his eye twitched, and–

"Idiot Apprentice, for the love of wine and beautiful women, _stop_ your stupid fidgeting!"

Immediately, Allen stopped and whipped around, before leveling a glare at his stupid –_still alive, he was still alive_– master.

Unfortunately, before he could even open his mouth to spew an appropriate insult, someone beside him burst into laughter.

Allen's eye started to twitch again, this time in annoyance.

_Lavi._

Said bookman-in-training was currently holding his stomach in laughter as he tried valiantly to wipe the many tears away from his eyes. Allen glared at him until the boy managed to finally catch his breath. Once he did, Lavi immediately looked up and…ruffled Allen's hair. All done with the huge grin attached to his face.

"Oh my gosh, Beansprout, did you _not_ see how cute you were? Trying to glare, hahahaha! At General Cross no less!" Almost immediately, the older boy burst into round 2 of endless laughter. On the other hand, Lavi's hand was immediately swatted away by a very annoyed Allen, who proceeded to give his –and in quotations, "cute"– glare to the other red-headed male.

…And once again, quiet giggling filled the air as Lenalee discreetly covered her mouth. Allen looked at her incredulously.

"You really do look cute, Allen!" Was her only explanation. Her eyes glittered with happiness as she smiled at the flustered boy.

Allen felt his cheeks redden as he had a sudden urge to bang his head against the nearest wall. He may be and look physically twelve, but he still had a mindset of a sixteen year old! He was definitely not _cute. _

On the other hand, said urge to murder his own head with a wall was immediately reinforced at the sight of Kanda's smirk.

Luckily for his head and the poor wall, it was Allen's turn.

Wait, turn for what, you ask? Well, considering he had only just woken up, Allen was not going to like, play cards or something. Or gambling, for that matter.

No, it was his turn to…

Order food.

After a few days of constant pestering (whenever he wasn't sleeping like he pulled a few all-nighters, of course), Allen had finally managed to convince his peers that he was ready to leave the white walls of the hospital room. And good riddance too; although the hospital food wasn't _bad, _per say, Jerry's food was at least a hundred times better. Allen swore that he was even _dreaming _of Jerry's food in his I-am-super-sleep-deprived sleeps. He had wanted nothing but to go into their cafeteria and chow down on the many dishes he had completely loved.

Of course, that was before he had stepped out of his room.

Outside his room, however, Allen suddenly felt a wave of fear wash over him. Sure, it had been a few days in this new universe, but Allen was still keenly aware of the fact that he wasn't _home_. There were still differences; small differences, yet blaringly visible to Allen's sharp eyes.

…It all added to the lump in Allen's throat, never failing to remind him that he wasn't in his home.

In addition to that, there were the _stares_. Okay, so Allen had his share of stares and glares in his rough childhood, but…the stares here were _even_ stranger. Instead of the curious, the _horrified_ stares Allen had received in the past (and more recently, the suspicion-filled and wary stares Allen had gotten in the Order, due to him having the chance of being the '14th'), Allen was the victim of many, _many _worried and happy stares.

It was surreal.

Allen didn't know how to respond.

So instead, his confusion transformed into his current state; nervousness. In his relief, all his friends, Komui, and even Cross accompanied him to the cafeteria, shielding him from most of the curious looks. Even Kanda had been relatively nice, actually steadying the poor boy when he had swayed after attempting to walk for such a long time.

A startled gasp and a teary sniff prompted Allen to look up and chased him out of the clouds in his head. He blinked, looking at the man who practically became his favourite chef. The man was staring at him with wide eyes, and was visibly holding back tears. Allen felt his own lips turn upwards into a small smile.

"Hi Jerry! Is it too late to order some brunch?" He asked almost teasingly, his stomach already anticipating the loads of delicious food just waiting to be eaten.

The eccentric male blinked, before nodding happily. "Of course, cutie! Oh, I didn't believe it when I heard the rumors about how you woke up, I just can't believe it! Its been such a long time, dear~"

He smiled warmly at the surprised boy before leaning forward. "Now, what can I get you, sweetie?"

Allen shook himself out of his stupor and smiled. It still warmed his heart that he had so many people caring for his wellbeing. And then…he began listing all the foods he was craving.

"…and some dango, please!" 17 dishes later, we see Allen finishing his endless request for food. Everyone in the cafeteria gaped at him. Jerry, on the other hand, immediately bustled away to prepare all the dishes.

"Brat, you think you can actually finish all of that?" A skeptical Cross Marian stared at his apprentice. Lavi tried to close his unhinged jaw while even Kanda stared blankly at him. Allen, on the other hand, nodded fervently. He had been starving!

Well, technically, the place wasn't refusing him food or anything. He just only had normal sized meals (which was weird, because even when he was in the hospital wing, he always had a considerably larger amount of food) and with all the sleeping he did, Allen never felt too hungry.

Now, as Allen studied the reactions of all his peers, he realized that he probably didn't eat that much in this alternate universe. He hid a smirk; everyone was in for a big surprise. Allen was going to put a serious dent in the Black Order's food supply.

Komui stared at him thoughtfully, before absent-mindedly voicing his opinion. "General Cross, doesn't Allen have a parasite Innocence? Perhaps it has evolved?"

Allen's heart skipped a beat. His Innocence! Crown Clown! Since his stay in this new universe, Allen never got the chance to see what his hand looked like. Even in his coma, he was wearing a pair of pristine white gloves. And honestly, his Innocence had completely slipped his mind with his schedule of sleeping and observing his 'not-my-universe's' friends.

Cross grunted, and like Komui, ran his eyes over the small body of his apprentice. Lenalee, on the other hand, looked horrified at her brother's words and even Lavi's happy mask slipped for a single second as his eyes too became hard. Even Kanda tensed almost unnoticeably, throwing his Supervisor a particularly nasty glare.

"In that case, we can ask Hevlaska to check his Innocence tomorrow." Cross replied unemotionally, taking a swig of the wine he had snuck out. Lenalee immediately spoke up.

"B-But Allen's only 12! And he just woke up. Brother…" She looked beseechingly at his older brother, and immediately Komui wavered. After all, he too thought that Allen was way too young to face the cruelties of the War. And what his sister had said was true; Allen had only just woken up.

"No, Lenalee, its fine."

Surprised, all heads swerved to the person who had spoken…the white-haired boy himself. Allen blinked. He had an inkling of his friend's thoughts, and well, they didn't really make him happy. If they thought that they could coddle the white-haired child, oh _boy_, were they wrong. He was by no means weak, and he wasn't going to sit around doing nothing while his friends fought every day. No way.

"I'm interested in finding out too." He flashed the girl a smile, and was readying a response as he saw Lenalee just about to protest. Luckily for Allen, his food had finally arrived.

"Then it's final." Komui quickly closed the discussion before his cute, sweet, _amazing_ sister tried talking him out of it. However, he himself secretly promised Lenalee that in the very least, he'll keep Cross' charge off any missions for the time being.

Allen smiled as he and his friends helped him carry his food to one of the tables. He couldn't wait to get his Innocence appraised again.

_Tomorrow_.

Allen would be ready.

**-(*+*)-**

**Okay, more action will happen in the next chapter! This chapter was basically like a filler, trying to let Allen slowly merge into this alternate universe. **

**And again, please review. If this story gets the same amount of reviews or more, I will definitely continue it! If not, I'll probably let it rot for a while as I pick up my other stories and/or plot bunnies. So review!**

**Thank you for reading, Sakura Hyuga out!~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Asjghsdjk hi everybody! I'm back! Anyhow, thank you for all the amazing reviews/favs/follows! It is only because of those that I decided to continue this story first, out of my 15 other fics.**

**Like the first time, I've reply to all the reviews prior to posting and now I shall reply guest reviews here.**

**Sara Allen: Thank you for the kind words. ;; I'll try my best to keep updating.**

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**love-everything67 (your Private Messaging Feature is disabled so I can't reply to you, so I'll do it here. xD): Thank you so much! And yes, of course, this fic thrives from cute fluff!**

**Please proceed to the end of the chapter for the rest of my author note. I'm sure you're all waiting to read the story, now, haha.**

**Disclaimer: Saku-chan owns nothing. Nothing, nil, (except the plot) although she would like to own a few DGM books, uhuhuhu.**

**Please enjoy!~**

**-(*+*)-**

_The pale moon was eerie, and Allen could swear that it was smirking at him. He shivered, pulling his cloak closer to his trembling body._

_Wait a minute…Allen's head snapped down, almost short of getting a whiplash. However, he had no time to think about that. After all, he was completely and utterly stupefied. Why?_

_Well, one; Crown Clown was activated. Two…_

_He was old again. No, wait, not 'old-man' old, but rather, he was back as his 16-year old self. Feeling another chill that crawled up his back, Allen quickly scanned the area for anything abnormal. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary (then again, he was an exorcist; everything was out of the ordinary) and for the first time in his alternate universe adventure, Allen felt his body relaxing. The once-freakiness of his dream even dissipated into a soothing atmosphere, with Allen almost craving for something that had not changed –he was almost glad to be in one of his creepy dreams again just for the sake of familiarity–_

"_Beansprout?"_

_Until he saw the drops of red scattered at his feet. _

_Allen froze, his mind blanking and deserting him. His limbs began to tremble and his breaths became erratic. It was like one of those horror movies, when you scream at the characters to not open that door. Of course, they do it anyway. _

"_Beansprout!" _

_Similarly, Allen didn't want to look up. He didn't. But like all protagonists in a horror film, his head began to traitorously rise and he braced himself for what would for sure be a scarring experience–_

"BEANSPROUT!"

"My name is Allen!" The words were basically out of his mouth before he even registered them, and with another violent jerk Allen felt himself rushing through open air.

On the other hand, someone swore with a colourful vocabulary in both English and Japanese. With his mind still half asleep, Allen barely had enough time to think about how he had fell out of his bed before strong arms saved him from his fall.

"…"

"…"

Allen cracked his eyes opened and almost gave himself a heart attack as he found himself staring into cobalt blue eyes. He immediately lowered his head and began to stare at his pajamas with faked fascination.

"…Beansprout."

He was shifted before being gently set down onto his bed. Allen, however, still refused to meet the eyes of his savior. He could still feel Kanda's –it wasn't _his _Kanda!– stare as the older male studied the still shuddering child.

"Beansprout…"

And then, suddenly, a warm hand ruffled his white hair.

…

Did Allen mention that there was only him and Kanda in his room at the moment?

…

Allen was downright flabbergasted! He was shell-shocked at the affectionate gesture. Why was this Kanda so nice? _His _Kanda tried chopping him up with Mugen all the time! _His _Kanda didn't even want to touch a 'cursed' person. _His _Kanda…_His _Kanda…

"BEANSPROUT-CHANNNNN!~" The door slammed open with a thump. Almost immediately, Kanda jumped away from the white haired child as Allen looked up with wide eyes.

And of course, it was Lavi Bookman who stood there with all his morning glory. Lenalee immediately waltzed in as well, holding a change of clothes (made by Johnny, of course!), and Allen's breakfast. Kanda, on the other hand, inconspicuously edged away from Allen's bed and towards Lenalee. The said female looked knowingly at the long-haired male, but said nothing as she turned to Allen.

"Good morning Allen! Sorry about Lavi, well, you know how he is." Lenalee gave an embarrassed laugh as she whacked their friend's head. Lavi, of course, erupted into childish whines as he rubbed his sore head.

"I wanted to wake Beansprout-chan up! We even came extra early to make sure he was still asleep! Who knew he was already awake with Yuu-chan. Wahhh, you're so mean! Yuu-chan, you ruined my fun!"

…

…

…

Dead silence…and then…

"Ack! Kanda! Don't wave Mugen around in the infirmary! Lavi, stop edging Kanda to slaughter you! Allen, you…go change and eat your breakfast!"

Almost immediately, a change of clothes was thrown onto his lap, with his food placed down on the table. Both lay forgotten, however, as Allen watched his –no…not _his_– friends bicker. He couldn't stop a small giggle from his lips as he watched 'mother' Lenalee try and break up the fight.

Even with his disturbing dream that night, it was a relief to know that some things never changed. That there was something similar about his current world compared to his old one. That his comrades had never changed, and that they didn't _disappear into thin air_.

Almost immediately, the smile slipped off of the white-haired child's face. That was right, _his _friends had gone poof. For all he knew, all of his dear friends might as well be dead. Allen's face twisted in worry as he relived the memory. He could no longer smile at the show the other three in the room were currently doing.

_His dear friends…_

Grabbing his clothes and making his way to the bathroom, Allen missed the worried looks that all 3 of his friends had pinned onto his back.

**-(*+*)-**

Allen bounced happily beside his friends as they made their way to the cafeteria. Lenalee had forgotten Allen's newly reinstated appetite, and they were all on the way to get him some seconds…and thirds…and fourths and fifths and whatever else Allen could digest.

After a quick meeting with their pink haired chef, Allen had a dozen dishes all for his consumption. Which he, of course, promptly began to devour as soon as he and the gang found a suitable spot to sit down.

"I still can't believe how much you can eat." Lavi said in awe as they all watched Allen vacuum his food down his throat.

"Che. Gluttonous beansprout." Kanda remarked. Lenalee pinched Allen's cheek.

"Allen, where the heck does all your food go? How do you stay so small? Tell me your secret."

Allen shoveled more food into his mouth as he shied away from the caring gestures his friends bombarded him with. Even Kanda was full of them! Lavi also seemed more…genuine. And Lenalee was now around 200x more motherly.

Lost in his musings, Allen missed the golden golem that flew into the room. Mere seconds later, his head had acquired a large bump.

"Oww!"

Allen nursed his head as he began to glare at his golem –_his golem_! Tim!

"Timcampy!" The modified golem flew into Allen's outstretched arms as Allen happily nuzzled it. His three friends even paused in their bickering to watch the white-haired child as he happily played with the golem.

A minute later, Lavi reluctantly plucked it out of Allen's grasp, knowing that there was a reason the golden golem was sent to them. Timcampy immediately began a recording.

"_Oi, Idiot Apprentice, its nearly time for lunch. Get your butt here so we can appraise your Innocence and so I can go to a bar for some brunch._"

Allen stared at the hologram of his teacher. Suddenly, a monkey attacked his Master's red mane.

"_Hey!_"

A woman with gold hair and an intricate scar on her face moved into the camera. She gave a brief nod.

"_Of course, General Cross means he has a mission with me after your appraisal. Due to this, I would also appreciate it if we could start early. If you're ready, please make your way to Chief Supervisor Komui's office._"

And Tim stopped the recording.

Allen slurped up the last of his chicken soup before he got up. His friends followed suit, albeit with less enthusiasm. Playing on his hunch, Allen guessed that all of them were still upset over him starting his exorcist duties at his current age. Shoving his annoyance away –he was _more _than capable, thank you very much– he turned around and gave them all a bright smile.

"Come on you guys. It's not that bad. Just an appraisal, right?"

Lavi's smile dropped as even Kanda frowned. Lenalee grimaced.

"I'm really sorry Allen! I don't know what my brother is thinking. Actually, I swear that he _isn't _thinking, sometimes–"

However, before Lenalee could go any further, Allen shook his head. _Just as he thought._ But he didn't believe in his friends' point of views…no, not at all. Not when they fought day and night. Allen did not want to sit around and wait when he could help.

"No, Lenalee. This is something I want to. I don't want you guys out fighting while I wait for you, all safe and sound. I have Innocence, and I will use it!" Allen stated fiercely. Everyone, however, looked horrified.

Lenalee cried out softly. "But Allen! You're not ready to face this, no, you're too–"

Allen shook his head again and moved forward with resolution. "Ne, Lenalee, trust in me. No…all of you. Please. Trust in me."

Silence. Allen felt slight fear; what if they still refused? Not that it would have stopped Central from sending him on missions, but if he was babied all the time, wouldn't the others become less attentive to their own safety? Allen couldn't risk that. No. Even if they were not _his _friends, they were still friends! He couldn't let them become careless because of him.

More silence. And then…

Another pair of feet slapped the floors as they began to follow Allen. Indescribable relief filled the white-haired boy. And then another pair of footsteps followed him. And last but not least, one more.

Allen didn't look behind to confirm. His heart swelled with happiness; they believed in him.

Allen could only hope that he lived up to their expectations.

**-(*+*)-**

"So, Allen, are you ready?" Komui's cheerfulness was completely out of place in the grim atmosphere. Well, grim because of Allen's friends. Allen was downright bubbling with energy. Kanda, Lavi, and Lenalee, on the other hand, still looked as if they were attending a funeral.

"Of course!" Allen answered as he moved to follow Komui. This time, however, nobody but his Master followed him. He looked back, confused.

Lenalee was the first one to realize the white-haired boy's unspoken question. "Don't worry Allen; we'll be waiting for you here."

Komui nodded and smiled teasingly. "The room is only so big, you know."

Allen felt his face warm up as he nodded in embarrassment. The boy had unconsciously begun to get used to all his friend's presences. Without Kanda's long hair swinging in the wind, Lenalee's light footsteps, and Lavi's loud laughter, everything seemed off.

Allen immediately set off and opened the door, stepping into it to meet Hevlaska.

Gentle light filled the otherwise dark room as his Master and Komui stepped in behind him. For once, however, the Great Generals were silent. Their shadowy figures seemed large to Allen's child-self and Allen tried his best to swallow the awe that was unfortunately building in him. Even if he had gone through all of this before. Even if he was already a seasoned exorcist. Even if he was once already past 100% synchronization.

Suddenly, Allen was knocked out of his musings as a tendril wrapped itself around his waist.

…And of course, it took all of Allen's willpower to not shriek like a little girl, despite having expecting it.

Very quickly, Allen was left face-to-face with Hevlaska. Her gentle probing felt unnerving, no matter how much Allen attempted to relax.

"Show…" The tendrils snaked around his body and Allen cringed despite his best efforts to seem unaffected. Komui…looked amused…_That idiot!_

"Me…your Innocence…"

And then, after all the probing, Allen finally felt Hevlaska connect with him. As if confirming his thoughts, the deep voice began to slowly announce…

"..2%...16%...31%...56%...82%...91%...The maximum synchronization you and your Innocence can achieve appears to be 91%."

Immediately, Allen felt solid ground beneath his feet again. He turned around to see Komui looking shocked at his clipboard while his Master hummed.

"91%? That's actually pretty decent, twerp."

Allen scowled at the name. "Master, it's Allen! Allen!"

Komui looked up, a grimace on his face. "91%...is pretty high."

Allen modestly looked down, accepting the praises. He only hoped that his synchro rate would prevent anybody's thoughts of coddling him.

Komui moved towards the boy and peered at his left hand. "The last time we had your Innocence appraised by Hevlaska it wasn't nearly as high…"

Master smiled. "To think your Innocence would grow stronger while you slept. Ha! You sure are lucky Idiot Apprentice."

Allen smiled. He was a bit confused as to why his synchro rate was nowhere near what it had used to be, but had chalked it all up to his now apparent youngness. In any case, he was just glad that it wasn't lower than the first time he had gotten it appraised.

Komui looked at his Innocence hand, still covered in a white glove. He pursed his lips. "Allen…could you show me your arm?"

Allen blinked before complying. Truth to be told, other than his dream, he hadn't invocated his Innocence or even looked at his left hand at all. He suppressed a wave of nausea as he peeled back his glove and–

A sharp intake of air and a large gasp.

Allen tentatively peeked at his hand. He didn't even know when he had closed his eyes. To his surprise, however, his hand was…completely normal. Blinking in confusion, Allen finally realized, belatedly, that if his hand was normal to him then it was definitely _not _normal to anyone else in this dimension.

Master roughly grabbed his hand and examined it. "The heck, brat?! Did you dunk your hand into black paint before coming here?"

Komui pushed the slightly panicking General back as his eyes remained on the now black hand. He studied it, before looking at the young boy.

"Allen, could you invocate?"

Having expected this question (really, Allen would have thought that he would be asked this before he even walked into Hevlaska's room) Allen closed his eyes and complied easily. Immediately, he felt his hand change and the soft and gentle feeling of his cowl surround him.

Komui whistled. "Now, _that _looks even more impressive than before."

Master only studied him quietly as Komui lapsed back into silence. Allen fidgeted under the two piercing stares. Finally, Komui spoke again.

"Later, after dinner, let me examine your Innocence, okay?"

Allen nodded as he thought it over. It was a reasonable request. After all, Komui was a cautious person.

"…the Destroyer of Time…"

All of their heads snapped up, even Allen's. It had been a while since he had last heard that. He looked at Hevlaska with bated breath.

"Your Innocence…Allen Walker, the Destroyer of Time."

Komui shook himself out of his serious mood as he ruffled Allen's hair affectionately. "Wow! That sounds impressive. Amazing, Allen! You're going to be great help around the Order."

Master also came around and clapped Allen on his back. He offered no words, but Allen could almost feel some fatherly pride radiate off the red-haired man.

…Which was completely impossible. Allen must have imagining that.

They stepped out of the room and Allen bounced off, delighted to go and regroup with his friends.

Komui looked down on his clipboard again and sighed.

"You want to send the kid on a mission, don't you?"

Komui sighed again. "I think Central will force me to as soon as they catch a whiff of Allen's synchronization rate."

Cross nodded thoughtfully, his eyes still lingering at the door Allen had bounced off in.

"I figured, if he'll have to go on a mission anyway, shouldn't I just pick one best suited for him? That way, we can get Central off Allen's trail for a while and we can be in control of his missions…" Komui flipped through the papers on his clipboard, his face scrunched in deep thought. "…Kanda was supposed to go on a solo mission tomorrow…"

A pause as both of them thought it over.

"…That wannabe samurai would take good care of my stupid apprentice." Cross fingered his smoking pipe as he looked away.

Komui nodded. "…I thought so too. Kanda is also the closest one to a General right now. In that case, I'll brief them after Allen's check-up."

Cross nodded as he began to stalk off, presumably to pack for his mission with the blond general. "Tell my Idiot Apprentice that I said to not fall off a cliff or get lost."

Komui laughed, the tension in the air dissipating. "Of course. I'll be sure to relay that to him."

**-(*+*)-**

**Little Sidestory #1: Kanda**

Kanda stared at his feet with a frown on his face. Lenalee was doing the same thing while Lavi had his eyes fixated on the door Allen had gone through.

They were all nervous about the appraisal. It had been evident merely from the tension that had filled the air. After all, Allen was their dear little brother, and it was cruel to make him start missions when he was so young. Even Lenalee had just started them that year.

Lavi frowned as his thoughts began to turn even grimmer. Looking at his comrades, he was sure that they had been all thinking along the same line of thought. Kanda was even clenching his fists inconspicuously as he glared at the floor…

Lavi felt his lips twitching upwards. Finally, a chance to change the mood!

"Nee, Yuu-chan, I was surprised when me and Lena-lady found you in Allen's room again. I mean, I know you used to visit him in the wee hours of the night but I didn't think you would continue even after he woke up!"

Lenalee jolted at the silence being broke before her mind processed Lavi's words. She also smiled in amusement, the grim thoughts slowly flowing away.

"Well, Lavi, we do know how much Kanda cares for Allen, right?"

Kanda, on the other hand, was very close to slaughtering the Stupid Rabbit. He scowled, replying flippantly as he pretended to examine the painting on the wall. "Che. Who would care about a Beansprout like him."

Lavi laughed. "They all said that Beansprout-chan trusted Yuu-chan the most since General Cross would leave Beansprout with General Tiedoll from time to time."

Lenalee piped in, unable to keep from smirking. "And people also say that it was Kanda who had to babysit Allen for who knows how many years."

Lavi smirked as well. "I even remember one time where I saw Yuu-chan stroking Beansprout's hair a while back."

…

…

…

Silence…before…

Kanda exploded and grabbed his dear Mugen, his cheeks tainted a bit pink. "Shut up you Stupid Rabbit!"

_(Allen later returned to find a Lenalee collapsed on a sofa, laughing her insides out, and an almost skewered 'Stupid Rabbit' hanging from a chandelier. And of course, there was Kanda, stalking his prey below with his mighty Mugen (and for some odd reason, his face turned red when Allen stepped into the room. Allen wondered why).)_

**-(*+*)-**

**Hmm, does this chapter also seem like a filler? I've changed my plans a bit, that's why. xD Next chapter we will start Allen's first mission, so stay tuned for that! And yay, we get some cute Parental!Cross and Overprotective!Kanda today, ehe.**

**In addition, AHHHHHHH, the amazing ShaeraHaek has made some super cute fanart for this fic! It's a cutie platootie pic of dear, pouting Allen, so check it out! I'll have it in the Fanart section of my profile~ Thanks a ton ShaeraHaek! (you know how to make me update faster now LOL, fanart = my eternal love)**

**Last but not least, you know the drill! If this chapter gets the same amount of reviews as before or more, I'll update! If not, it shall rot as I catch up on my other stories. I do this because a lesser amount of reviews to me mean lesser attention and love, which means that I should work on all my other stories more. xD**

**Thank you a lot for reading this! Sakura-chan out~**


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